The Dragon Rider's Chronicles

"Well, Iris. I meditated and found my inner flame," he smiled playfully. "So I'd like to have that crossbow as soon as possible."


He became slightly sullen as he continued, "I skillfully dodged being caught out by the dark elf king of Ventenadanathat views me as the spawn of the people who killed his wife.


Also it was revealed to the Queen of all of Dracosfar, may Her reign be long and fruitful, to be a brave idiot." He started heading off to his room. "So if you don't mind I'm going to take a nap before anything else comes up."


Matthais walked down the hall and went to his room. He closed the door behind him, sighed a long sigh, and laid down on his bed.


He closed his eyes; hoping his dreams might take him somewhere else, if only for some time, to ease his troubled mind.


He had no such luck.
 
Iris raised her eyebrows. "....okay I missed a lot." She disappeared back to the side of her dragon, feeling like this was a better place for her to be right now.


----


Matthais' dreams were less than peaceful. Atop a hill, there stood six statues, each with symbols on their foreheads. Three of them stood facing the other three in a line. The first three were unrecognizable. The second three however looked oddly familiar. One appeared to be a slightly older Iris, standing on the far right. The one on the far left appeared to be Neera. The one in the center, however, was himself, except a little older.


The other three's eyes glowed simultaneously, focusing on the statue of Neera alone. Their combined power was crushing and the statue began to crack. Within seconds, it shattered. They then turned their attention to Iris, doing the same maneuver. Matthais' statue was the last to shatter.


The image disappeared and the image of a great golden dragon filled his vision. The great creature was like Sikstaxen, except this dragon was much larger than the apparition that they had seen of Welunaariv, the moon dragon. It looked down upon him, pure white orbs as eyes.


"This is what will happen if you fail." The dragon spoke the Common tongue fluently. "Neera will fall first, for without the Spirit's ability to combine the Sun and the Moon's power, you and Iris will be unable to do anything. Then they will target Iris because she will protect you at the cost of her own life. You will be the last to be hunted down. If you fail to master what you are, all of the people around you will pass on into eternity." Images filled Matthais' mind. Neera's dead eyes stared into his, her body stabbed though with three swords. Iris' screams chilled to the bone as she was tortured to death. Matthais' dead body laid in the courtyard of the Sentoni castle in Lyathon. Kestus was seen falling from a cliff, his mangled wings unable to fly. Ardra and Kenzo laid side by side in a forest, covered in wounds and obviously dead. Sanz was seen being executed by the other three people who represented the other three statues. Finally, Sikstaxen was seen lying on the beaches of Militum, golden scales streaked with blood and eyes lifeless.


"I know that you have tried, child of my blood." The golden dragon sighed. "Perhaps you do not yet have the reason to try. But if you do not try, this will come to pass. That is certain. The other three Dragonborn, Death, War, and Chaos, have risen already. Soon, they will unite against all of you. If all three of you are not ready, then all of this will come to pass and the land will fall to the Bound Dragons, whom will be released from the Abyss' chains by their Dragonborn. Think on these things, Matthais Roux." And just as suddenly as the image appeared, it disappeared, sending him out of dream world quickly back into reality.
 
Matthais wakes with a start and sweat drenching his bed. His dream disturbed him greatly. He knew not if it was real or some sort of figment from his exertion... No the latter couldn't be the case, he thought. He doesn't know why but Matthais felt that it must be true.


He sat up in his bed and worries. He needed to learn how to access his inner flame, or else all was lost.


No pressure.


He stood, and looked around his room. He looked at his bag, still mostly packed, at his letters that caught up with him here on his desk, and he looked out the window at the view over the canyon. He could see the darkness below, and of what he's read, that darkness holds deadly beasts, are these the Bound Dragons of which the dream spoke?


He walked to his desk and picked up a letter, it was from Dana, his little cousin. He read it in silence.


She has just begun to become proficient with her words, and the letter isn't the most eloquent work written, but it touches Matthais. She's excited to hear about what her cousin is doing on the island of dragons about whether or not he's a hero like Kendal the Red yet. Matthais laughs at that. She's so full of excitement, so full of life, so happy. He knows just what she looks like writing this, brow furrowed, tongue sticking out a little, glaring at the page with determination, and pushing down too hard with her quill. Her blonde hair just a bit frizzy, sticking out of her pigtails, with the red light of a lantern playing on it. He looks down and reads the rest.


It ends as all letters from the Roux do, "From the Roads about Drakara, Dana."


Dakara is a rich merchant city on the southern part of the continent. It's prosperous and renown for its wine and great siestas. And it's where the Roux start teaching the young ones how to steal. Matthais glared at that word, Dakara, as if he could make it change with his hatred. His anger welled inside him and he tucked the letter in his shirt. He walked to the center of his small room and sat down. He closed his eyes, gritting his teeth and he began packing things away in the back of his mind. He took everything away.


Everything but Dana. Dana being forced to learn to steal. The anger consumed him filled him as he made space for it. It welled up inside him until he was nothing but red seething anger. The Red Anger beat in his mind with the rapidly increasing pulse of his heart, and then he reached for his magic.
 
Iris' eyes flashed open after she had dozed off against her dragon again. Had she felt the sun for a moment through the magic continuum? She reached out, searching for Matthais; she had no idea what she would find when she found him.


------


Ardra stood next to her dragon nervously as her father carefully inspected Majeir. The fact that her father was here was terrifying. Of course, this wasn't her home. He could not get away with some of the things that he had done before.


Out of no where, Verus back-handed her across the face, a look of smouldering fury in his eyes. "Your insolence....of all things to do, you choose to apply for candidacy behind my back. What would possess you to be a part of Sapphira's slaves?"


"The position of being a Dragon Rider is an honor." Ardra had stumbled back from the initial hit and now had her hand covering the hit area, her eyes not daring to look at him.


"You're Sapphira's dog now. You are supposed to answer to her alone." Verus angrily advanced towards her. "You ignored my orders and plans for something like this?"


"It seemed like a logical decision at the time." Ardra murmured softly.


"You'll answer for this eventually." Verus glared at her and started to march towards the Council's quarter area. "Go cover up that mark on your face; you look like a weakling with it."


Ardra stood, frozen, as she watched him walk away. She bolted away, running for safety in her room. The hallway seemed to be longer and she was scared to look behind her, fearing that her father would be there. Ardra passed everyone as she ran into her room, locking the door behind her.


------


Neera sat with her mother on her bed in her room. "Mother, you know the truth behind the Soromine massacre yet you do nothing about it."


"I can't make it right without civil war with Ventenadana." Sapphira sighed, rubbing her temples. "Their military power is far too strong right now for me to risk that. Their troops are everywhere across the continent."


".....will there ever be anything that we can do about it?" Neera asked hesitantly.


"No, my child." Sapphira looked at her, her eyes dead.


-------


Kestus buzzed around the kitchen, singing in Draconic. This was how he remembered his spells; putting them in song. The food would be ready in time for dinner. He raised his eyebrows when he saw Ardra run past but he did not question it. He figured that Kenzo would take care of it.
 
Kenzo rose from his meditation at Ardra's disappearance into her room. His brow slightly furrowed in worry as he strolled over to her door and knocked. "Ardra, it is Kenzo. May I enter?"
 
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Ardra walked to the door, unlocked, and walked to her bed without a word. She sat, looking away from the door, shaking. Fear coursed through her veins still. The mark on her face had turned purple and she hadn't had time to hide it yet.
 
Sanz was panting as he sat on top of Auntrymarun. Flinging himself around in the air was significantly more strenuous than swinging his sword around on foot.


Perhaps we should continue this another time? I doubt your stamina will hold up much longer.


Need to hold out... or useless...


It was becoming more difficult to focus on the link for Sanz. A method of communication he was not used to on his taxed form was difficult. He shook his head and decided to utilize his normal speech


"Let's head back... Someone's probably in an uproar over our disappearance."


Auntrymarun only blinked once before heading back towards the hangar. Within minutes he had landed and Sanz was leaning against the side of his flank.
 
Kenzo slowly entered and closed the door behind him. He leaned against the door, arms crossed and eyes staring at the back of Ardra's head. He knew in his gut that her father must have done something. "What is the matter, Ardra? What has 'his lordship' done while you two were in the hangar?" He said, placing a slightly hateful edge on the words 'his lordship'.
 
The light in Matthais's room was intense. He had uncorked the font of his inner flame it cascaded out. It filled his room, and overflowed through the small window into the canyon, under his door into the common room, and even through his keyhole. Matthais slowly unboxed his mind, keeping his anger hot, and he slowly began to mold the outrageous burn he shaped it into forms about him of radiant red-gold light. Spirals, lances, lightning bolts. He made them and felt their intense heat. Eventually he unboxed more and more of himself, until he was all out. And the cascade ceased. He stood and opened his eyes and called upon his inner flame.


And pierced the darkness of the canyon with a beam of light. It was not nearly as powerful as it had been while he was in his meditative rage. He then turned to his room and opened his eyes.


It was at this time that he noticed his room was on fire.


"Uh.... Fire!"
 
Ardra did not dare look at him until she smelled smoke. "....fire?" She turned, the ugly bruise ranging from above her right eye to halfway down her cheek obvious. "Is something on fire?"


----


Neera and Sapphira had also smelled the smoke and were dashing out of their room. The fire alarms were going off and a disgruntled Draconas was dashing towards Matthais' room. Neera threw open the door, eyes wide.


"....how did you manage that?!?!"


----


Iris could sense the chaos growing but only smiled. So, Matthais had finally found a focus for his flame. Good; that made her life a lot easier.


----


Kestus flew in, chanting words in Draconic. The flames were suddenly pulled into his hands, through the skin, and into his body.


"You can thank me later." His words were laced with a bit of pain.
 
Kenzo placed an ear to the door and listened intently. Once he was certain that the situation was under control he turned back to Ardra. His eyes blazed with anger as they lingered on her bruise. "It is as if he wants me to kill him," he muttered hatefully. He met her gaze, the anger turning to concern. "I have minor skill with healing magicks. If it pleases you, I would be more than willing to tend to that," he said referring to the bruise.


His skill with healing magic came exclusively from his time as a hermit. He wouldn't have survived his time roaming without developing some form of magical first aid.
 
Sanz, the council is here. I would advise caution, some will seek to use you for their own means.


"It won't happen Auntyrmarun. Even as a dragon rider, I am only a normal elf from the coast, who's only notable feature is his physical strength."


Even so, politicians will seek whatever cards they can use.


I hate politicians


Sanz shook his head and started to walk into the hall, putting a hand over his mouth as he let out a yawn. Between the lack of sleep last night and the training he had just gone through, going to his quarters and resting sounded like a very good idea. If he was lucky, maybe he could just sleep through the council's visit... ignore the needless turmoil
 
"I can thank you now friend." He walked over to Kestus and hugged the fairy. "I've got many things in here that are irreplaceable and without which the world, and my life, would have been much darker. I thank you." He released the fairy and turned to Neera, "Deep meditation and magic experimentation. Not a good combo indoors. I'll be more careful in the future. Thank you both for coming to help." He then turned to his room to assess the damage. The sheets on his bead were ruined. Most of his mail on his desk had been burned beyond reading. The desk was scorched mildly as was his chest, but its contents remained unscathed if a bit warmer than usual.


The letter in his shirt, from Dana, was untouched by the fire. His jaw tighten but he sighed with relief.
 
Ardra looked away, her eyes going blank as she nodded. "....sure." She sat back down on the bed, folding her arms across her chest. For a split second, she had forgotten the bruise and she had forgotten her father.


----


Kestus turned a deep cherry red when Matthais released him and began to swoon. "....oh dragons above....your blessings are too much for me!"


Neera blinked once, then twice. "....meditation...magic....you?" Her head shook rapidly, dismissing the idea as ludicrous.


Sapphira eyes studied the young man. Yes, he had unlocked something withing him, that was obvious. But such explosiveness....and knowing that there was no one who could truly train his abilities in the old ways of the Sun Dragon....Draconas would have to keep an eye on this one.


Draconas sighed and started marching away. "I'll go and order repairs. Until then, you'll be in Iris' hall."
 
Sanz finally came up to his room . . . and stopped. He turned his head and couldn't help but notice the scorch marks as well as the obvious smell of soot. Despite his better judgment, he let out a sigh and peeked into the door


"Something burning?"
 
Kenzo strode over and gently sat to Ardra's right. He placed his left hand onto her right cheek and started focusing what little skill in white magic he had into healing her bruise. "...I cannot bear to sit idly in the shadows for much longer..." he muttered under his breath, "...from now on, I will be your personal guard. I will obey you and you alone. No one will be able to harm a hair on your head. I will not leave your side."


He sat in silence for a few seconds, letting his white magic work, before he reddened slightly and coughed into his right hand. "...That is, except for when it is time to retire to our personal quarters, of course."
 
"Well, it's not like you haven't spent the night in my quarters before." Ardra giggled, blushing a bit. "You really don't need to worry yourself with my safety. I can take care of myself quite well; I just don't try to anger my father by retaliating."


----


Neera glared back at Sanz. "Ya think? Matthais set his bloody room on fire!"
 
"So it would seem. Seems to be taken care of though."


Sanz turned around and stifled a yawn as he walked away


"I'll be in my quarters if anyone needs me. Don't wake me unless it's important."
 
"I beg pardon, but I'm not putting this up for discussion," Kenzo said calmly. "I have restrained myself into the shadows for most of my life. It was hard enough to hold myself in check when all I cared for was my own wellbeing," he said and lowered his hand, having completed his healing. "How can I not act when now I fear for your safety?"
 
"....that guy is never around when we need him." Neera sighed. "...Mom? Why are you staring at Matthais? You told me it was rude to stare?"


"No reason, darling." Sapphira broke her gaze and turned back to her daughter. "I'm going to my room to rest. I will see you at dinner." Her face was contemplative as she began walking back down the hall.


"....what is with everyone around here." Neera hmphed. "All secretive and stuff. I don't like it." She marched back to her room, where she promptly decided to pass out until dinner.


------


"Because my father can and will kill you." Ardra sighed. "And I don't feel like losing anyone else in my life."
 
Kenzo rested his face in his hand. "So what will you have me do? It is not in my nature to see harm befall someone, especially when I could have intervened." He sighed in minor frustration. "What will you have me do?!"
 
"The only time I want you to jump in is if my life is actually threatened. Otherwise....please don't because he will attempt to kill you and say that it was the attempt of the last Soromine on his life. If he even knew about all...this..." Ardra shook involuntarily.
 
Kenzo hesitated for a moment, but wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to him. "I am generally not one to make promises. I have seen far too many people foolishly promise things beyond their control, and get inevitably disappointed. Even so...I will always protect you, and I will never leave you. You have my word." He spoke with great determination, and looked to her for a response.
 
Matthais left his mildly ruined room and sighed. He looked around the hall and seeing no one he headed to the nearest couch and laid down upon it and looked rather uncomfortable as he tried to nod off. And with chagrin he rose and mumbled as he walked down the hall towards the hanger. He was not tired enough to sleep on a couch and there was still to much adrenalin from the anger and the discovery of earlier.
 
Ardra smiled. "I know, Kenzo, I know." She just curled up against him, enjoying just sitting there in his arms. This was...new....but she enjoyed it....and she wasn't going to move for a long time from this new place where she felt was safe and was home.


----


Hours passed and soon the smells of dinner wafted throughout the compound. The dragons were being fed as usual. Draconas took care to get what food the Council wanted, along with plenty of ale. He had the Council set up in a separate room. He was quick to get in and out, trying to avoid any questions or comments from any of them.


----


Kestus has the rest of the food set up in the normal area. He took care to get his own food first this time, sitting down on the couch in front of the television. In his hands, he held a small dinner triangle, which he promptly began ringing. "Dinner time!"


----


Neera heard the words dinner and bolted up. "DINNER!!!!!!!!" She raced out of her room towards the food.


----


Ardra heard it and looked up at Kenzo. "Guess we should go out there, huh?"


----


Iris heard it from the other end and slowly got up from next to her dragon. "I'll be back." She started walking towards the hallway.
 
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